ORLANDO, Fla. – The Penn State women's golf team will head back down to the Sunshine State for the UCF Challenge beginning on Sunday morning. The three-day event will run through Tuesday afternoon.
Four of the five Nittany Lions competing in the starting five have familiarity with Eagle Creek following previous tournaments either during their time at Penn State or during their junior golf days. The course is a 6,349-yard, Par-72 that goes out in 35 and comes in at 37.
Each round features an 8:45 a.m. shotgun start. Penn State will be paired with UNC Wilmington and The College of Charleston in the opening round and will begin play on holes 13-15.
Live scoring for the duration of the tournament will be available HERE.
OPPONENTS
- Four additional Big Ten squads will join the Nittany Lions in the loaded 18-team field this week as Michigan State, Maryland, Minnesota and Ohio State each make a return trip south.
- The host Knights are then joined by Virginia, Wake Forest, Auburn, Miami, Kentucky, NC State, Iowa State, Old Dominion, Kent State, UNC Wilmington, College of Charleston and Houston round out the field.
THE TEAM
- Penn State will travel six players this weekend with freshman Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) making her second appearance as an individual this season.
- The Nittany Lions lineup will feature senior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.), junior classmates Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) and Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) along with freshmen Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.), Katie Scheck (Greensboro, Ga.) and Jami Morris (Chagrin Falls, Ohio).
- Scheck is coming off a week at the Big Ten Match Play Tournament where she was victorious in all three of her individual matches.
- Delavallade leads the team with a pair of top-five finishes during the fall season including her Individual Medalist honor at the Nittany Lion Invitational while her 73.33 stroke average is second on the team. Scheck fared well in both tournaments she participated in back in the fall including finishing T-29 at the Evie Odom Invitational and currently has a 73.67 stroke average. Waller also had her best finish of the fall at the Evie Odom Invitational coming in tied for 24th with a career-low 217 (7-over) and currently ranks fourth on the team with a 74.11 stroke average.
- The Nittany Lions finished 12th in the 18-team field last season at the UCF Challenge. Delavallade led the way tying for 35th with a 6-over, 222.
NEXT UP
Penn State will then have a month off before returning to the Sunshine State for the North Florida Invitational in Jacksonville on March 7-8.